The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ Bureau of Immunization Assessment and Assurance is pleased to present the 2015 immunization411 webinar series aimed at providing participants the latest immunization information. Webinars are set for the third Thursday of each month, through the remainder of the year during the lunch hour.

The First Annual Get Link’d Education and Training Forum will be held in Jefferson City, Missouri on April 28 – 29, 2015. This Education and Training Forum is co-sponsored by the Missouri Rural Health Association and the Missouri Public Transit Association in partnership with HealthTran. Conference registration includes a complimentary 2015 membership to the Missouri Rural Health Association.

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health – Region VII is hosting a collaborative event, Creating a Healthier Nation 2030, on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center. This half day event will showcase Public Health at Work and highlight organizations and agencies currently working to create a healthier nation. Please share with your networks.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) is pleased to announce the release of the Rural Health Care Coordination Network Partnership Program (Care Coordination Program), a new, one-time funding opportunity created as one of the activities of the White House Rural Council.

Key attributes of the Care Coordination program:

Partnership: This grant program, which encourages new public-private partnerships in rural, will allow communities to have more support as they develop and implement their program. In addition to this FORHP funding opportunity announcement, 11 foundations have expressed interest in considering providing additional funding for care coordination activities by applicants in this program who are in their service areas. To find out further information on this opportunity, please visit: http://www.hrsa.gov/ruralhealth/philanthropy/carecoordination/index.html

Focus on Care Coordination: The main goal of care coordination is to meet patients’ needs and preferences in the delivery of high-quality, high-value health care. Care coordination in the primary care practice involves deliberately organizing patient care activities and sharing information among all of the participants concerned with a patient’s care to achieve safer and more effective care.

Attention to Chronic Illnesses: Grantees of the Care Coordination Program will focus on activities related to one or more for the following chronic conditions: 1) Type 2 Diabetes; 2) Congestive heart failure (CHF); and 3) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The prevalence of these chronic diseases is increasing across the U.S. and is particularly problematic in rural areas. Applicants shall develop creative and innovative approaches to improve outcomes in one or more of the three pre-specified disease states and will track a minimum set of process and outcome measures.

Building the Evidence-base: A priority for FORHP grant programs is the identification of rural evidence-based, which puts the focus on project outcomes and allows FORHP to showcase model programs through the Rural Community Health Gateway, located on The Rural Assistance Center (RAC) website (http://www.raconline.org/communityhealth/). The Rural Community Health Gateway includes a variety of resources, including success program models and evidence-based toolkits, which can provide guidance and ideas to communities planning on developing similar programs. The information gathered through the Care Coordination program will help populate the Gateway.

The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) is pleased to announce the release of the Rural Outreach Benefits Counseling Program (Benefits Counseling), a new one-time funding opportunity.

FORHP is committed to increasing health insurance coverage for all of rural Americans and is providing funding for this new community-based pilot program. The Benefits Counseling Program is targeted to improve outreach and service delivery in local and regional rural communities. The purpose of the three-year program is to expand health insurance outreach, education and enrollment efforts to eligible uninsured and newly insured individuals and families in rural communities. FORHP plans to award up to 10 new awards for $75,000 per year.

In response to the White House Job-Driven Training initiative, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) is pleased to announce the release of the Rural Network Allied Health Training Program (Allied Health Training), a new one-time funding opportunity.

The Allied Health Training Program supports the President’s Rural Health Care Initiative by focusing on rural recruitment and retention activities and builds upon the accomplishments of the Rural Health Workforce Development (RHWD) pilot program, which ended in 2013. As a result of the RHWD Program, approximately 4,000 program participants completed their rural training/rotation, and of these, almost half said they plan on returning to practice in a rural area and a number of them have. Moreover, there was a significant economic impact of $19 million within rural America from FORHP’s $12 million investment via the RHWD Program.

The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) is pleased to announce the release of the Rural Outreach Benefits Counseling Program (Benefits Counseling), a new one-time funding opportunity.

FORHP is committed to increasing health insurance coverage for all of rural Americans and is providing funding for this new community-based pilot program. The Benefits Counseling Program is targeted to improve outreach and service delivery in local and regional rural communities. The purpose of the three-year program is to expand health insurance outreach, education and enrollment efforts to eligible uninsured and newly insured individuals and families in rural communities. FORHP plans to award up to 10 new awards for $75,000 per year.

Last Friday, ONC held and Million Hearts held the ONC EHR Innovations for Hypertension Control (aka “protocols) Challenge phase 2 kickoff. The video recording and slide set are attached. On the video the two phase 1 challenge winners discuss their progress incorporating hypertension protocols into their EHRs and into their delivery systems. The next phase of the challenge will be to spread the tools described by the winners on the video.

The Rural Assistance Center will be hosting a two part webinar series from the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. Part one in the series will focus on the policy briefs the committee has issued on rural healthcare. Part two in the series will cover the briefs issued on rural human services. Please join RAC for these free webinars.

Featured Speakers:
Committee Chair Ronnie Musgrove, along with several other NACRHHS members

The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services has issued several recent Policy Briefs on rural healthcare. Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the Committee has focused much of its work on how the ACA would be implemented in rural America. The webinar will address two briefs that cover enrollment in and pricing of insurance plans and premiums for rural populations on the 2014 Health Insurance Marketplaces. The third brief discusses the provision of hospice benefits to the rural population.

The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services will discuss its recent Policy Briefs on Rural Humans Services. In its first Policy Brief, the Committee examined the intersection of federal human services programs and rural poverty and included two case studies about two different types of anchor organizations to coordinate rural Human Services. In the other Policy Brief they discuss the unique needs and characteristics of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in rural America.

About the Rural Assistance Center

The Rural Assistance Center is a free, federally funded resource that provides information to help build quality health and human services in rural America. RAC is funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.

Connecting to the Webinar
Please note, there are a limited number of seats available; however, we hope to make a recording available on our website after the live event. This webinar is free. A phone connection and high-speed internet are required to participate. Connection details will be emailed to you prior to the event.

If you have questions or problems with the registration process, please contact Cathy Westerhausen at cathyw@raconline.org or 701.777.0584.